Lindley Glass Studio: A Tradition of Light

Cheri Lindley and Cherie Buckner-Webb have a standing joke. Cherie the Candidate (that’s pronounced Sher-ee, Cherié) and Cheri the Artisan (that’s pronounced Sherry) like to insist to each other that their own version of the name is correct. Cheri Lindley points across the street to the house on East Bannock that belonged to Cherie’s grandparents. She describes meeting them when house hunting in the neighborhood many years ago,

but doesn’t mention singing in the choir on Cherie’s CD, By His Grace, or that Lindley Glass restored in their entirety the stained glass panels from the original St. Paul Baptist Church. These windows are now preserved at the Black History Museum. Such restoration work can be very demanding, but Cheri thrives on it, itching to literally work beside the vanished glass artists of the past to bring back the splendor of panels that have buckled or broken.

The studio at the rear of the houses is serene as afternoon light streams in through brilliantly faceted, rainbow images in glass. Each panel is intricate and complex, but retains the clean elegance of design that seems to be a Lindley trademark. Each color-saturated project represents layers of planning, intuition, and craftsmanship.

(above) mapping and diagrams for glass placement

Lindley Glass Studio has been a vital resource for glass artists and students for over thirty years. The business now comes full circle, beginning as a home industry, moving into a large space downtown, and now in busy semi-retirement Cheri and Doug are working as a home business once again. According to Cheri, this business, the passion of a lifetime, began in a box on Mother’s Day. At a time when stained glass supplies were not available in Boise, her husband presented her with a cardboard box full of what supplies he could find and a book. “You love glass—just do it” was his unspoken message.

“As a child my teachers told me I wasn’t artistic, but glass always fascinated me,” Cheri remembers. During study halls at Boise High she used to daydream out the rippling, old windows. At church, the shifting colors of the stained glass called to her during choir practice. From the moment she placed her first plywood workbench on the washing machine in the basement, Cheri knew this was her path.

(above) ancient glass detritus purchased through governmental exportsin Palestine for use in a new lamp project (below) lamp detail

Lindley Glass created the first glass supply resource and teaching venue in Boise, produced stained glass, etched and mosaic works of art glass–often by commission. Over the years Cheri and Doug have worked together to aid in the restoration of countless historic windows. “Working with glass never becomes boring, because each project means a new set of problems to be solved,” Cheri explains. “You can’t force glass to your will. You have to give up control and let it the material show you what it can be.”